


Ability to love Again

by Mindiangrowl



Category: Fringe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-15 21:37:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1320058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindiangrowl/pseuds/Mindiangrowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While out having drinks, Olivia asks Peter why he came back , when she had to diffuse the bomb with her mind. And they eventually admit and give in to their feelings for each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drinks and Explanations

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2009, fringe is and will always be one of my favorite scifi shows, enjoy.  
> -P.Rom

"Two Samuel Adam's please." Olivia said to the bartender. She handed him a twenty then rejoined Peter at the table they were sitting out.

"Thanks." He said when she handed him a beer.

There was a brief awkward silence as the both just sat there taking sips from their beers, neither looking at each other, both thinking about the case they had been investigating only two hours prior. Olivia kept thinking about that bomb, she was still fighting the inner conflict of if she believed that she had stopped the bomb with her mind, or if it had just been set to turn off at the end of the countdown. She thought about what would happen if the bomb had went off, not only would she be dead, Peter would be too. For some reason he had come back.

"Peter.." Olivia suddenly said to the younger Bishop.

"Yeah, Liv." Peter said turning to look at her.

"Can I ask you something?" Olivia said.

"Yeah, whats up?" Peter asked .

"Why'd you come back?" Olivia asked.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked .

"Earlier , with the light bomb, you left , but then you came back." Olivia explained.

"I dunno Liv, we've seen a lot of crazy things in the past few months, I figured anything could happen, even if it seems insane." Peter said.

"Yeah, we have." Olivia said taking a swig from her beer. They continued to drink in silence, neither saying a word until Peter spoke breaking the silence.

"Seriously though, I couldn't just leave you there , no matter how crazy it sounded, I couldn't forgive myself if I left and something happened ." Peter said.

"Thanks for the concern." Olivia said flashing him a small smile.

"Your welcome, I still think it was crazy, but, you, me, and Walter, we're a team, and teams stick together." Peter said.

"Yes sir, coach." Olivia said lightly laughing.

"Hey, I was being serious." Peter said feigning hurt.

"I know. It's getting late, I should get home." Olivia said grabbing her purse.

"I'll walk you." Peter said getting up too.

"Ok." Olivia said.

"Let me check on Walter, then we'll go." Peter said calling his father at the hotel.

"Walter pick up , its Peter." Peter said when the answering machine picked up.

"Peter, are you still out with Olivia." Walter asked casually.

"Yeah, I'm walking her home, then I'll be heading back to the hotel." Peter said.

"Oh, then, uh I wont need to wait up then." Walter said in a eyebrows raised tone.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Peter asked noting his father's tone, but the older Bishop had already hung up the phone.

"Everything ok?" Olivia asked noting the annoyed expression on Peter's face.

"Yeah, just Walter being Walter." Peter said.

They left the bar and walked down the street,both staying silent . They reached Olivia's building and walked up the stairs, stopping in front of the door of her apartment.

"Goodnight Liv." Peter said preparing to walk away.

"Peter.." Liv said calling him back.

"Yeah..." Peter said.

"I'm glad you came back,there was a part of me that thought it was completely insane too, and a part that was a little scared.." Olivia said opening up.

"Scared of what?" Peter asked seeing the conflict in her facial expressions.

"That I was wrong, and would be killing us both, but a part of me was glad I wasn't alone, I'm sorry, know that sounds selfish." Olivia said looking away.

"No, it doesn't, look at me Liv, I don't regret coming back, I'd regret it more, if chose not to come back." Peter said gently touching her face.

"Why is that?" Olivia said looking into his eyes as she tried to hide all the emotions swimming in her head, because of his touch.

"Because...I..I care about you ,Liv, I care what happens to you." Peter said removing his hand from her face and running it through his hair.

"I care about you too..." Olivia said missing the warmth from his hand on her face.

"You do..." Peter said not sure what to say.

"Yeah, goodnight Peter." Olivia said kissing him on the cheek and flashing him a smile.

"Goodnight Liv." Peter said feeling himself starting to blush. He watched her enter her apartment then turned and made his way toward the stairs.

He caught a cab and made it back to the hotel fifteen minutes later. He unlocked the door and was startled by Walter who was sitting on the couch starring blankly as if in his own little world.

"Walter, what are you still doing up, why aren't you in bed?" Peter asked locking the door and walking over to his father.

"Oh, Peter, I wasn't expecting you." Walter said just noticing that his son had entered the room.

"I told you I'd be coming home soon." Peter said kicking off his shoes.

"Yes, yes you did, I assumed you would be spending a longer time with Olivia." Walter said in that tone of his.

"Well, I wasn't, it's been a long day, go to bed so I can sleep." Peter said.

"Right, it is pretty late." Walter said getting up and heading toward the bedroom.

"Goodnight,Peter." Walter said as he walked away.

"Goodnight, Walter." Peter said in the tone he always used when talking to his father.

Peter pulled his cover over his legs, sighing as he leaned back into the couch. He couldn't help but, to keep replaying his conversation with Olivia.


	2. The Charcoal man

Scottsburg Virginia 6:30 am

A tall brown haired man walked down a street, drinking a bottle of water and all of a sudden he started to gasp for air then he started to scream. A few minutes later,two teenage boys ,who were ditching school for the day started walking on that same street, they turned the corner and saw something on the ground a couple of feet away from them,that they'd never seen before.

"Carter, whats that?" The first boy asked his friend as he pointed toward something a couple of feet away from them.

"Whats, what, James?" The second boy asked not seeing what his friend was staring at.

"That, over there,lets check it out." James said curious.

"I don't know James, maybe we should just go to school." Carter said a bad feeling coming over him.

"Come on, don't be a chicken." James said walking forward. Carter stood there for awhile,deciding to follow when James kept walking.

"Wait up James." Carter said running to catch up. James slowed down and they both walked over to what Carter had spotted.

"Whatever it is, it stinks." Carter said looking at what looked like a giant burnt rock.

"I'm gonna find a stick." James said still curious about the strange object. Carter found a broken broom stick and walked over with it.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that..." Carter said as James started to poke the rock like object.

"Your such a wuss." James said as he continued to poke the giant rock, and suddenly the rock began to crack open, unnoticed by James.

"James..." Carter said scared as he pointed to the rock which was starting emit some type of steam or gas as it cracked open.

"What the hell." James said dropping the stick and staring at the rock, than at his hands ,which were starting to look just like the strange rock.

"Whats happening to you?" Carter asked freaking out as the rock released more gas.

"I don't know, I cant move my arms or legs ,go get help!" James yelled to his friend but when he turned to Carter, his friend was completely covered in the strange rock material and the cracked rock that he had been poking at had a charred human body inside, making the boy scream.

Boston Massachusetts

Olivia was woken from her dreams about the light bomb, by the ringing of her cell phone. She groaned reached her phone and answered it.

"Dunham." She said letting out a yawn as she answered the phone.

It was Agent Broyles, calling about a case in Scottsburg Virginia. He wanted her to get Walter and Peter and meet him at the scene. Olivia got dressed then called Peter to let him know that he and Walter needed to get dressed , because they had a case. She couldn't help but think back to her conversation with Peter two days before , in fact she found herself thinking a lot about Peter lately.

"What's up Liv?" Peter asked when he answered the phone.

"Two bodies were found in Scottsburg Virginia and one victim is in the hospital..." Olivia said.

"Let me guess, they think Walter knows how they died." Peter said knowing that they always came to them when weird things happened.

"Yeah, I'm coming to get you so we can go to the crime scene." Olivia said.

"Ok, I'll wake up Walter, see you in a few." Peter said.

"K, bye." Olivia said hanging up the phone. She then grabbed her keys then locked the door of her apartment before walking down the hallway.

Walter/Peter's hotel room

"Walter, hurry up Liv will be here soon." Peter said to Walter who had been holed up in the bathroom.

"You didn't tell me Olivia was coming over." Walter said opening the door of the bathroom.

"Yes, I did Walter, I told you after she called and again before you went into the bathroom." Peter said slightly irritated.

"Oh, yes, yes you did, I should probably get dressed then." Walter said in that tone of his.

"Yes, you should, I'm gonna take a shower, you better be dressed , when I come out."Peter said walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

Fifteen minutes later Peter emerged from the bathroom a towel wrapped around his torso, he walked into the living room to make sure that Walter was dressed and was surprised to find Walter and Olivia sitting on the couch , Walter going off on one of his random tangents about soda.

"There you are Peter." Walter said bringing Olivia's attention to the half naked Peter.

"Walter, why didn't you tell me Liv was here." Peter said annoyed and a little embarrassed about her seeing him in an undressed state.

"You knew she was coming, why would I need to tell you she was here." Walter asked clearly not seeing the problem.

"We should get going soon." Olivia said. When Peter had walked into the room the sight of his sculpted chest had almost made her jaw drop.

"Right, I should get dressed." Peter said grabbing some clothes then reentering the bathroom, so he could change into his clothes.

Ten minutes later , Peter was dressed and they were all in the car headed to Scottsburg. They arrived at the scene an hour later and after being issued hazmat suits the three of them approached the bodies after Broyles filled them in on the details.

"The bodies appear to have been burned,but there is no sign of any excellerant, the one surviving victim , James Sterling,suffered the same type of burns on his hands and feet, he's not in any pain, but whatever it is seems to spreading to be spreading to the rest of his body, what we think is the source is emitting some type of radiation. Broyles said talking about the rock, which had stopped emitting gas.

"Hmm, very interesting..." Walter said bending down to examine the body that was partially encased in the cracked rock.

"Have you seen this before, Walter?" Olivia asked looking at the charred remains.

"Maybe, it seems familiar...I'd like to see the boy that survived." Walter said standing up and facing Olivia and Broyles.

"What about the bodies?" Peter asked wondering what they were going to do with the remains.

"The radiation is still pretty strong, so we can't risk sending them to the lab,we've set up a tent in a secure location." Broyles explained.

"Ok, we'll go to the hospital and see if we can find anything out from James Sterling." Olivia said.

" Since I can't take the bodies to the lab,would it be possible to take some samples of the rock material?" Walter asked.

"I'll have a team send you the samples." Broyles said.

"That would be most excellent." Walter said than followed Olivia and Peter back to the car after removing their sterilized suits.

The then drove toward the hospital to talk to, James Sterling, who would probably be a major clue to solving this current paranormal mystery.


	3. Who's Fault is it, then?

Olivia walked with Peter, through the local Scottsburg hospital, where James Sterling was taken. Walter had been taken back to the lab and he and Astrid were working on analyzing the small sample of the strange rock,that Walter had taken from the scene. They approached the room, standing in the doorway, and saw a middle aged women standing next to the hospital bed, she was trying to talk to James ,but he had his back turned to her, Olivia deducted that he was the young boys mother , before they entered the room, James' Doctor approached them.

"May I help you?" The doctor asked .

"Olivia Dunham FBI ,and this is my associate Peter Bishop,how is James condition, would it be possible to talk to him?" Olivia asked.

'' You can talk to him,but,please try not to overexcite him, we don't know what effect stress will have on whatever is causing his condition'' The doctor said.

They walked into the hospital room too see a scared looking young boy with gauze wrapped around his hands and feet. His mother walked over to them.

"Hi, Mrs. Sterling, I"m agent Olivia Dunham,from the FBI, I need to ask your son some questions."Olivia said.

"FBI? What does the FBI have to do with what happened to my son?" Mrs . Sterling asked confused.

"Lets, just say, we specialize in special cases like this." Peter said.

"Do you mind, if I talk to him alone?" Olivia asked.

"I..I don't know..." Mrs . Sterling said, looking reluctantly at her son then back to Olivia.

" In order to help him, we have to know what happened,he may be more inclined to talk if you left the room." Peter explained as nicely as he could.

"Ok..." Mrs . Sterling said leaving the room to call her husband. Olivia walked over to the hospital bed, while Peter stood back to give them some space.

''Hi James, I'm agent Olivia Dunham, can you tell me what happened?'' Olivia asked speaking gently to the boy.

''I don't want to talk about it.'' James said turning away from her trying to hide his tears.

'' I know your scared, but we need to know what happened out there, so we can stop whats happening to you.'' Olivia explained.

''It was all my fault, he didn't even want to come,I should have listened...he's dead isn't he.'' James said more tears falling down his face.

"Who?" Olivia asked ,but she was pretty sure he was referring to the unidentified young boy found at the scene.

"Carter Lewis...my best friend." James said. Olivia made a mental note of the name so that they could notify his family.

'' I'm sorry...we need to know what happened ,so nobody else gets hurt, you can trust me.''Olivia said giving him a reassuring smile.

''If I tell you what happened ,I'll get in trouble, everyone will hate me.'' James said.

"Why do you think that,James." Olivia asked trying to understand the young boy.

"Because, it's all my fault, we were there because of me...and now Carter is gone." James said letting a lone tear escape.

"Even if that were true, I'm sure Carter wouldn't want what happened to him, to happen to his best friend." Olivia said.

"I'll tell you what happened, only if you don't tell my Mom." James said clearly still feeling scared and guilty.

"Let me tell you something kid,no matter what you do,mom's will always care more about losing you, no misdeed will change that." Peter said stepping in.

"O..ok." James said sighing.

"Why don't you start from the beginning." Olivia said. She though about how Peter was able to get James to talk, she had a feeling he was speaking from personal experience, having basically been raised by his mother.

So James recounted the story from the beginning, starting with his convincing of Carter, to skip school that day, to when he spotted the strange object, a few feet away from them. He ended with his curiosity about finding out what it was, by poking it with the stick he found.

"Some gas or something started coming out of the rock,I didn't see it at first until Carter started yelling at me about it, but...but I couldn't move my hands or legs and when I turned around...I saw Carter...he was covered in that rock stuff, and that's when I saw that skeleton in the rock." James explained.

"So, you see it's all my fault, if I didn't make Carter skip school, he wouldn't be dead and I wouldn't... be , like this." James said clearly distraught.

"It's not your fault James." Olivia said placing her hand on the non-rock covered part on his arm.

"Then , whose fault is it?" James said looking pleadingly into Olivia's eyes.

"That's, what we're going to find out." Olivia said determination in her voice.


	4. Familiarity

Olivia asked James a couple more questions about what happened to him, then about Carter Lewis, so she the FBI could get in touch with his parents. She and Peter then drove back to Walter's lab where they found him examining a piece of the rock.

" Did you find anything out about the rock." Olivia asked as she and Peter walked over to Walter.

"Yes,its composition is quite interesting, it is almost completely organic,but there is a trace of something I can't identify and it seems familiar." Walter said.

"Did you find out anything that can help James?" Olivia asked as Walter added drops of some kind of clear solution to the rock sample.

"Yes..but its not good..not at all." Walter said as he examined the reaction.

"Well,what did you find out?" Peter asked when Walter didn't say what exactly he'd found.

"Right,well the rock substance seems to react by absorbing H20, and since our body's are sixty five percent water, it will continue to absorb the water in James Sterling's body until he is completely covered like the other two victims." Walter explained.

"We can't let that happen, there's got to be a way to stop the process, or maybe slow it down." Olivia said not wanting James to meet the same fate.

"Liv's right, according to James, Carter, one of the victims, was instantly covered by that stuff,but it seems to be spreading slower on James,if we can figure out why, its reaction is moving slower, maybe when can stop it before he ends up like the others." Peter suggested.

"That could be possible, it would give us more time to find the origin of the material." Walter said, then Olivia's phone started to ring.

"Dunham." Olivia said answering her phone. She walked away as she talked on her phone, While Walter began to test other solutions on the rock material.

"Everything ok?" Peter asked when Olivia got off of the phone and walked back over to them.

"Yeah, that was Broyles, they identified the first victim, Steven Fuller, I'm about to go interview his wife." Olivia said.

" I'm going to help Walter with the rock, I'll call you if we figure out how to help James." Peter said.

"Ok." Olivia said walking out of the lab.

Scottsburg Virginia

Olivia stood outside of Steven Fuller's house, according to the information they'd found, he was a computer engineer for a local IT company. He was probably on his way to work, when he'd been exposed to whatever it was that had killed him and Carter and was killing James Sterling. She knocked on the door, and waited as she heard footsteps approaching the door, it opened to reveal a girl between the ages of ten and twelve.

"Can I help you?" The girl asked.

"Olivia Dunham, FBI, is your mother home." Olivia asked showing the girl her badge.

"Yeah...Mom!" The girl called and a older brunette appeared.

"Can, I help you...Olivia Dunham, what are you doing here?" The woman said recognizing Olivia.

" Stacey Martin." Olivia said recognizing her old college roommate.

"Actually it's Fuller now, wow,I haven't seen you since graduation, what are you doing in Scottsburg." Stacey said.

"I'm with the FBI, and I'm afraid I have some bad news." Olivia said tone becoming serious.

"Uh...come in..Molly, why don't you go finish your homework." Stacey said motioning for Liv to come in,then addressing her daughter.

"Would you like some coffee?" Stacey said as they walked into the living room.

"No, thank you." Olivia said politely.

"So, what is this about,what has he done?" Stacey asked.

"Excuse me." Olivia said taken aback.

"This is about Steven isn't it, ever since he started that new job, hes been acting so strange." Stacey said.

"Yes this is about your husband, I'm sorry...but his body was found early this morning." Olivia said trying to break it as lightly as she could.

"What...what happened?" Stacey said taking a seat.

"He along with two others were exposed to an unknown radiation, there was one survivor,but if we don't find out how they got exposed, he might not survive, he's just a kid." Olivia said.

"Ok..but, what can I do, you could have informed me of his death on the phone, why show up here." Stacey asked clearly trying to hide her distraughtness.

" You said he's been acting strange, since he got his new job, did you notice anything specific, that might help us find out how and where he was exposed." Olivia asked feeling for her friend, but she had to ask the questions in order to save James.

"Well, sometimes he would come home, and his clothes would have this strange smell,I'd ask him about it,but he would act like he didn't smell it." Stacey said.

"Did he have any other strange behavior?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, he would constantly be drinking these protein water mixes, it was like this white powder that he poured into a bottle water,but it didn't have any color once he mixed it in to the water. He drunk it every morning. Molly tried to drink it once and he screamed at her never to touch it, he scared her so much she didn't talk to him for two weeks." Stacey explained.

"Do you by any chance , still have some of the clothing with the strange smell, or know where he kept the powder?" Olivia asked hoping if she did ,Walter could figure out a cure, or at least where the substance came from.

"Yeah, he came home two days ago, and one of his shirts had that smell, I was going to wash it." Stacey said.

"And the powder?" Olivia asked thinking that, that was probably the key.

"Sorry, he never let it out of his sight, I'll go get the shirt." Stacey said walking away.

Olivia felt really bad, she hadn't seen Stacey in years, and here she had turned up at her door and given her one of the worst news you could ever give a person. She couldn't imagine how that felt, or maybe she could, John had almost been her husband and not only did she lose him, he had betrayed her and the agency, which had basically become her whole life. She didn't know if she could ever love like that again.

She couldn't help ,but think of Peter after that last thought. She cared for Peter, she knew that,but, she wasn't exactly ready to give her heart to someone again, not after what had happened with John. She briefly thought back to the light bomb case, Peter was ready to take the chance of dying with her,that wasn't something that any guy would do,Peter was definitely one of a kind. Her thoughts then moved to how he could be stubborn one minute , then caring and understanding another minute, like he'd been with James at the hospital.

She was brought out her thoughts, when Stacey reappeared with a bag containing a shirt, which she handed to Olivia.

"I hope this helps the kid." Stacey said.

"I truly am sorry for your loss, I'm going to find the people responsible for this, I promise." Olivia said to her old friend.

Stacey just nodded and walked Olivia to the door. Once Olivia got back into her car,she called Peter and filled him in on what Stacey had told her about Steven, his strange behavior along with the smell on his clothes and the strange powdery substance. It appeared their FBI information on Steven Fuller had been outdated. Stacey had informed her that he had quit the IT job three months ago and started some secret new position.

This had also been the start of when he had started drinking the strange protein drink, as he called it and when he started coming home with his clothes smelling strangely. Olivia knew the next step was to find out where this new job of Steven Fuller was,because she had a feeling that would lead her to the source of the foreign rock substance , which would enable them to save James.


	5. Steven Fuller

Harvard

Olivia walked into the lab, after getting back from Scottsburg, carrying the bag with Steven Fuller's shirt. Walter was still doing tests on the rock, while Peter watched and Astrid searched the FBI database for any cases that might be similar to the one they were working on as well as information on Steven Fuller.

"That the shirt?" Peter asked ,when she walked into the lab.

"Yeah..." Olivia said, and Peter could immediately tell something was bothering her.

"Everything ok?" He asked after she handed the bag, containing the shirt, to Walter.

"Not really...the adult victims wife, was my college roommate, we haven't seen or spoken to each other in years." Olivia said knowing she couldn't completely hide her emotions from Peter, he always seemed to be able to tell when something was on her mind , or bothering her, and she surprisingly found it both easy and comforting to confide in him.

"It's always tougher, when the case is personal." Peter said understanding.

"Yeah, it is." Olivia agreed. They both stood there awkwardly, neither knowing what to say next.

"So, Walter, you find anything yet?" Olivia said turning her attention to the older Bishop.

"Yes..but nothing that can help the boy, I am still examining the clothes , I may still find something that can help ." Walter said.

"K, keep doing what you're doing,call me as soon as you find something." Olivia said. Walter nodded,then Olivia walked over to Astrid's space in the lab.

"I've got the address of Fuller's old job, his phone records and I'm waiting on the GPS records on his car." Astrid said handing Olivia some printed sheets.

"Thanks, Astrid. I'm going to go check in on James, then I'll be checking out Fuller's workplace." Olivia said.

"I'll come with you." Peter said almost like a question.

"Yeah, James seems to trust you,maybe you can get him to tell you more about what happened." Olivia said adding also, in her head, that she was happy to have him tag along, though Peter did much more then just tag along, he also gave another set of eyes and another perspective to help solve a case.

"He's gotten himself in a bad situation, he's scared and somewhat lonely, I get how it feels, that's all." Peter said downplaying his ability to help the kid.

"You don't give yourself enough credit." Olivia said, Peter just smiled at her, then they headed out to the hospital.

"How's he doing?" Olivia asked the doctor,while Peter walked into the room to talk to James.

"The burns have spread to his lower abdomen,if whatever this is continues to spread upward he won't be able to breath on his own, I've never seen anything like this,its almost as if he was exposed to radiation,but this isn't any of the known types." The doctor said.

"We're working on finding out, what it is." Olivia told the doctor.

"I hope you find it soon, for James sake." The doctor said then went to examine her other patients.

Olivia watched, from the doorway of James' isolated hospital room,as Peter talked to the young boy.

"Did you find out whats happening to me." James asked Peter.

"Not yet, but we're working on it, your lucky,because Liv is the best, if anyone can find out whats going on she can." Peter said to James.

"You were right." James suddenly said.

"About what?" Peter asked confused.

"About my Mom, she was sad about Carter,but she didn't get mad at me,shes just happy that you guys can still fix it." James said.

"Mom's are the best." Peter said then his face got real serious, as if he was thinking of something.

"How you feeling James." Olivia said walking into the room.

"It still doesn't hurt,but it feels weird like I've got something weighing down my arms and legs." James said.

"James, I know its tough to think about what happened,but do you remember anything else , about what happened, that you haven't told us yet." Peter asked having snapped out , of whatever he had been thinking about when Olivia entered the room.

"No...I don't think so." James said.

"Did you see a powdery substance, or smell a strange smell?" Olivia asked thinking back to what Stacey Fuller told her.

"No..wait there was a smell,when the rock cracked open." James said suddenly remembering.

"Can you describe it to me?" Olivia asked. James proceeded to describe the strange smell , almost identically to the way Stacey had described it.

"Thank you, James." Olivia said after writing down his description of the smell.

"Hang in there kid." Peter said getting up from the chair he was sitting in, while he talked to James.

"Will you come back,later?" James asked having grown attached to Peter.

"Sure,kid." Peter said. Then he and Olivia exited his hospital room.

" He's just a kid,We have to find a way to save him." Peter said frustrated as they walked toward the Hospitals exit.

"We will." Olivia said confidently.

Hartford Technologies

"This is it." Olivia said stopping the car in front of a medium sized building. They got out of the car and entered the building.

"Olivia Dunham,FBI, I need to speak to someone about a former employee,Steven Fuller." Olivia said to the receptionist.

"You'll need to talk to Marc Jones on the third floor, he was Steven's floor manager." The receptionist said.

"Thanks." Olivia said then proceeded to walk with Peter toward the exited the elevator on the third floor and asked one of the employees where they could find the floor manager.

"Marc's office is down the hall and to the right." A male employee said.

"Thanks." Olivia and Peter both said, then followed the directions to Marc Jones' office.

"Can I help you?" Marc said when Olivia and Peter walked into his office.

" Olivia Dunham, FBI, we need to ask you some questions about Steven Fuller." Olivia said.

"Why does the FBI want to know about Steven." Marc asked.

"We're not at liberty to say right now,but we could use your cooperation." Peter said ,just in case Steven's old boss may have been involved.

"Of course, what do you want to know about Steven Fuller?" Marc said after motioning for Peter and Olivia to take a seat.

"First,why did Steven leave his job here." Olivia asked.

"Well Steven was one of our model employees until about six months ago, when his behavior drastically changed." Marc said.

"How so?" Olivia asked.

"Well,while his ability at his work improved his personality shifted, he was edgy and easily irritated, when I confronted him,he made some excuse about stress at home, so I gave him a few days off to sort it out,but when he came back, his personality was worse." Marc said.

"What exactly do you mean, by his ability at his work, improved?" Olivia asked.

"Well, for one his speed at his workload improved, as well as the efficiency." Marc answered.

"What exactly did Fuller do here at Hartford?" Peter asked noticing that the manager had yet to give specifics on Stevens work.

"Steven was a tech. His job was to analyze and fix any glitches within the system, which included monitoring security codes. He also made sure  
that the research done here was in no way released to the public before it's ready. This all normally took between seven and eight hours, but Steven  
started finishing his work between four and five hours, and there was no evidence of him cutting any corners ." Marc explained.

"So is that why you fired him?" Peter asked.

"No,but, actually I was going to, we have a drug free policy here and they way he was acting made me suspect him of using speed or some other type of drug,but he quit before I could fire him, said he found a better job." Marc explained.

"Did Steven have access to the computers ,for work ,as well as personal use?" Olivia asked.

"Not at his work station,but each employee had a email account,they could access in cubicle five, I can give you his login information." Marc answered.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about Steven?" Peter asked after Marc handed him the user name and password.

"No,but Allen Jenkins, the other main tech on this floor knew him better than I did,he might know something, hes in cubicle four." Marc said.

"Thanks." Olivia said as she and Peter got up from their chairs.

They walked out of Marc Jones' office and Olivia went to talk to Allen ,while Peter checked out the computer in cubicle five.

"Olivia Dunham, FBI, what can you tell me about Steven Fuller." Olivia said when she approached Allen Jenkins.

" Is Steve in trouble with the FBI?" Allen asked.

" I'm not at liberty to say,can you tell me about Steven's behavior before he quit six months ago."

"Yeah, Steve started acting weird out of nowhere,it was like he was strung out on something, he would practically bite your head off,if you asked him anything while he was working, he even cut back his breaks, we're supposed to switch shifts every two hours,but Steve was doing like four hours straight,it was weird,then one day he was on the computer in cubicle five, reading some email and like the very next day, he up and quits. Said he was going to be doing big things, things that were going to be bigger than what happens here at Hartford." Allen said.

"Liv, I think I found something." Peter said calling Olivia over to cubicle five.

" There's some type of encrypted file hidden within his email." Peter said when Olivia walked over.

" Do you think it can be decrypted?" Olivia asked standing next to him and looking down at the computer.

" I think so." Peter said .

"K, I'll have a team come and pick up the computer." Olivia said.

"Have them check out his work computer too, he may have found a way to hide files there too." Peter said.

"Good idea, I was wondering why I keep you around." Olivia said joking.

"Because you like me, admit it." Peter said joking, Olivia just smiled at him, then made the call to the FBI.

"Come on, lets see if Walter's made any progress with the rock." Olivia said after she hung up with the tech people at the FBI.


	6. Frozen

Harvard, Boston Massachusetts

"What did you figure out,Walter?" Olivia said as she and Peter entered the lab. Walter had called before they left the hospital ,saying he had an idea.

"Well...I was thinking about how this radiation spreads." Walter said.

"By consuming the body's water." Olivia said .

"Right, so if we can slow down that process, we can stop the spread of the radiation." Walter said.

"But how...wait a minute, you're not thinking , what I think you're thinking." Peter said catching on to Walter's theory.

"It could work, it would give both us and James more time, to solve this." Walter said.

"It's too dangerous, what if something goes wrong." Peter argued.

"Hold on, what are you two talking about,if this could help James, we should do it, what exactly did you have in mind." Olivia said not getting what the big deal was.

"He, wants to freeze James." Peter said.

"Freeze him, how would that help?" Olivia said confused.

"Well, if we're able to freeze the water in his body, it would take longer for the radiation to absorb it ,and spread to the rest of his body." Walter explained.

"That sounds dangerous." Olivia said.

"That's because it is, his temperature would have to be lowered drastically in order to freeze him,he could get brain damage ,or it could kill him."Peter said.

"Not necessarily son, there is a way to freeze him, without killing him." Walter said then started scrambling around as if looking for something.

"You aren't seriously thinking of using that." Peter said.

"Using what?" Olivia said. Sometimes it was like Peter and Walter had their own way of communicating, and she was usually left looking lost and confused.

"This." Walter said wheeling out this metal machine that had all sorts of tubes hooked up to it.

"What is that?" Olivia said looking at the strange machine.

"Its a form of cryogenics, its more temporary, then the other types, and it hasn't been used in years." Peter said stressing the last part.

"How does it work?" Olivia asked Walter, she didn't know when it had happened,but she'd started to trust Walter and his crazy inventions.

"Well, what we do is essentially inject ice water into his central veins, along with a chemical, that will instantly freeze the water around it."Walter said pointing out what the tubes were for, and the part of the machine that would hold the ice water and additional chemicals.

"Do you think it could work?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, I'm certain, to a degree." Walter said.

"This is insane." Peter said still stubborn and adamant about being against this idea.

"Peter, I know you're worried about James, I am too, but this is all we have right now , it's something that can work, we don't have much time." Olivia said.

"Fine,but we're testing it first." Peter said.

"Of course we have to find the right concentration of the chemical...Alice , where are the box of frogs I ordered?" Walter said forgetting her name as usual.

"It's Astrid, Walter, and here you go." Astrid said appearing with a box of green frogs.

"Right, thank you." Walter said. Astrid went back over to the computer just as a call came in.

"Liv,its computer forensics, they found something and are faxing it over now,they think Peter might be able to decode it." Astrid said.

"K, I'm gonna call the hospital, I don't think we should move James, I'll get a truck, so we can go to him." Olivia said then pulled out her cell.

Olivia made some calls, while Peter and Astrid worked on deciphering the faxes, the FBI forensics team faxed over. And Walter worked to get the right combination of the freezing chemicals. An hour later all the calls were made, the information decoded and, after four exploded frogs, the right combination of ice water and chemicals, was found.

"I've got it, two parts ice water and 1/4th chemical ." Walter said.

"Good, job Walter,everything is set up, the truck should be here in a few minutes." Olivia said then walked over to Peter and Astrid.

"So, most of this is just extra code to take away from the real message,but we figured it out." Astrid explained .

"So what is it?" Olivia asked.

"They're GPS locations, this one comes up a lot in the encrypted emails,its pretty close to where James was found ,it's probably where Steven Fuller's new job was." Peter said excited as he pointed a specific set of numbers.

"That's great, first we take care of James, then I'm leading a team to check out the location." Olivia said.

Scottsburg General Hospital

"So, you're gonna freeze me?" Steven asked after they told him.

"Yeah, it will stop the burns from spreading." Peter said.

"Is it gonna hurt?" Steven asked in a quiet scared voice.

"No, kid, the doc is gonna give you something, so you wont feel a thing." Peter explained.

"What if I don't wake up, what if I'm stuck frozen forever, I don't want to do this, you cant make me do this!" James said starting to freak ok.

"It's going to be ok , kid, I promise, we will find a way to fix this,you can trust me." Peter said trying to reassure the boy.

"O..ok, I trust you...I'm ready, it'll be just like the movies,right." James said calming himself down.

"Yeah,just like the movies." Peter said , then he motioned for the doctor to come in with the sedative.

" Will...will you be here when I wake up." James said as he started to drift into unconsciousness.

"Yeah, kid, I'll be here." Peter said as he watched the boy slowly drift off.

"G-good." James said before drifting completely into unconsciousness.

"You ok?" Olivia asked walking over to him.

"Yeah,lets go find the SOB's that did this to him." Peter said walking away from the hospital room.

Scottsburg Virgina, Few Miles Where Bodies Were Found

Olivia, Charlie, Peter and other FBI troops, were outside an old warehouse, the location of the GPS coordinates they deciphered from Steven Fuller's emails. One tea,, led by Charlie, went around the back, while the second team, led by Olivia .went through the front.

"Clear!" Olivia said as they entered the first room guns raised. They went through several other rooms, which also ended up being empty, they were going down a long corridor, when Peter pointed out a back room.

"Liv,over there, do you smell that." Peter said as he edged toward the door.

"Peter,wait!" Olivia said but he had already approached the door, he had his hand on the door nob.

"Its locked." Peter said.

"Step back." One of the other officers said, then kicked the door open. Inside was a small lab and several vials of a white powdery substance.

"Get some hazmat suits, there may be radiation, I don't want anyone getting exposed." Olivia said motioning for everyone to step away from the open room.

"Uh,Liv, I think it's a little too late for that." Peter said motioning to the hand, he'd opened the door with, which was starting to be covered by the radiation burns.

"Oh,no." Olivia said staring shocked, at his burned hand.


	7. Infected

Scottsburg Virgina, Warehouse District

"Peter..." Olivia said starting to walk closer to him.

"Don't, Liv...I don't want you to get infected either. All of you get away from me." Peter said.

"Move back, get a hazmat med team in here!" Olivia shouted to the retreated agent, while she stood a couple of feet from Peter.

"Liv..." Peter said seeing she wasn't retreating like the others.

"I'm not leaving you." Olivia said before he could say anything else. They both stared stubbornly, and intensely at each other.

"Fine...but keep your distance." Peter said, halfway worried and halfway relieved she was there, she was keeping him from freaking out, for now at least.

"You feeling ok?" Olivia asked as they waited for the hazmat team to come in.

"Uh, yeah I guess, it doesn't hurt,it's like James said, it feels like I've got a weight on my hand." Peter said nonchalantly.

"We'll figure out a way to fix this." Olivia said confidently, she had to be confident, the case had just gotten even more personal, with Peter now infected.

"What about you, are you ok, you can still get infected standing here with me." Peter said, still worried about her.

"I got just as close as you did, I think if I was going to be infected , it would have happened already." Olivia said.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Peter said relieved about her still being there,but still a little worried about her.

Just then the hazmat med team came in , they escorted Peter out of the warehouse, Olivia following right behind him.A second hazmat team, FBI forensics, came in and collected evidence from the room, took finger prints, and searched for anything else that could help them fine a cure for James and now Peter.

Once outside , the team had to place Peter on a stretcher in order to get him into an ambulance. Because by the time they'd exited the warehouse the radiation had spread from his left hand up his arm and down his left leg, leaving it too heavy for him to walk . Olivia joined them in the ambulance, holding Peters right hand, in her gloved one . Because they would only let her ride with him ,in the ambulance, wearing a hazmat suit.

Scottsburg General Hospital

"Peter seems to have the same type of radiation as James, but its spreading much faster,probably because hes an adult." The doctor said.

" Can we slow it down, freeze him, like we did with James?" Olivia asked as they stood outside of Peter's hospital room.

"At the rate its spreading, I doubt it, I give him four hours before it completely covers him, I'm really sorry." The doctor said then walked away.

Olivia wasn't going to give up, they'd find a way to save him, they'd have to. She pulled out her cell and called Walter. After Walter had frozen James, he had gone back to the lab to await word of whatever happened at the warehouse. and so that he would be ready to receive whatever they found at the warehouse and work on it in the lab. She had confidence that Walter would figure out the cure, and now that Peter was infected he would be even more focused.

"Walter, its Liv, somethings happened." Olivia said.

She then proceeded to tell Walter all about their search of the warehouse, that they assumed to be Steven Fullers new job location. And about how Peter had spotted the room, resulting in his being infected with the unknown pathogen and radiation like burns on his hand.

"Um, have the FBI send me what they found in the room, also I'd like to examine you, there must be a reason why Peter was infected ,but you weren't, I think that may be one of the keys to solving this and helping Peter and James." Walter said his voice full of worry and nervousness as he spoke.

"Ok, I'll be right over, after I see Peter." Olivia said then hung up with Walter. She then entered Peters room.

"Hey..." She said as she walked over to his hospital bed.

"Hey." He said flashing her a weak smile.

"We're gonna figure this out." Olivia said squeezing his uninfected hand, she no longer needed the hazmat suit, because he was no longer emitting what was considered dangerous amounts of radiation.

"I know." Peter said confidently.

"Walter thinks, the fact that I didn't get infected may be a key to figuring this thing out." Olivia said.

"Well if anyone can figure this out, Walter can, hes solved stranger things." Peter said.

"Yeah." Olivia said flashing him a small smile.

"I'll be right back." Olivia said.

"And I'll be right here, not going anywhere, anytime soon." Peter said attempting to make a joke.

"You better not." Olivia said giving him a joking slash serious smile. He just smiled back, finding strength from her confidence.

She then gave him one last glance before leaving the hospital room, she really hoped Walter was right, if she was a key to solving this, to helping James Sterling and to saving Peter, then she would do anything to solve this. She was determined to stop whoever created the radiation, and to save Peter, before he ended up like Steven Fuller and Carter Lewis.


	8. Interrogation

Harvard, Boston Massachusetts

"That's all I need, for now." Walter said after he'd finished drawing a vile of Olivia's blood.

"Great, you need anything else." Olivia asked as Astrid bandaged her arm, where the blood had been taken.

"No, your blood plus the samples from the warehouse are efficient." Walter said.

"Thanks." Olivia said to Astrid after she finished covering up the small puncture mark.

"Your welcome. Agent Dunham." Astrid said to Olivia, then turned to answer her phone as it suddenly rang.

Walter started to examine the samples, while Olivia watched on, absentmindedly shifting nervously as she thought about Peter sitting in the hospital. And of young James Sterling frozen, until, they could figure out a way to cure him. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard her name spoken by Astrid, as she ended the call with whoever she was talking to.

"K, I'll let Agent Dunham know." Astrid said then hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" Olivia asked turning to face the younger Agent.

"They found another warehouse,from the coordinates in Fuller's emails." Astrid answered.

"Where?" Olivia said prepared to lead a team to raid the location.

"About a mile from the first, Agent Francis and a team already went in." Astrid said seeing the 'go get em' expression on Olivia's face.

"What did they find?" Olivia asked sensing there was more.

"Much of the same stuff lab stuff from the first. But one of the agents heard a noise in the back, they caught a guy. Someone named Allen Jenkins, they also found two more bodies, remains like Steven Fullers and Carter Lewis." Astrid said, but all Olivia heard was the first name spoken.

"Did you say Jenkins?" Olivia said recognizing the name.

"Yeah, you know him?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah, he worked at Hartford with Steven Fuller. P-Peter and I interviewed him, everything he told us was probably a lie." Olivia said pissed.

" Agent Francis said they're about to question him." Astrid said relaying the last part of the message.

"Not without me, they're not! Call me if you've found anything..or if Peter's condition changes."Olivia said tone softer at the last part.

"You sure, you should be involved with the questioning?" Astrid asked seeing how upset Olivia was.

"I' gonna make that lying SOB, wish he never set foot in Scottsburg." Olivia said in response then practically stormed out of the lab.

"Remind me , never to get on her bad side." Astrid said to Walter.

"I believe, I should have you remind me of that, as well." Walter said then returned to looking over the sample of Olivia's blood.

FBI Headquarters

"I'm gonna ask you , again, who do you work for?" Charlie asked. They were in a dim lit, and cold, medium sized, holding room.

"And I'll tell ya again, I don't know a damn thing." Allen Jenkins replied. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Charlie went to answer it.

"I've got it from here, Charlie." Olivia said walking in.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Liv" Charlie said speaking soft enough for her, but not Allen, to hear him.

"Why not, and why wasn't I informed, about the second raid, until after it was done." Liv asked angry,but not as angry as before.

" I figured you'd want to be at the hospital with Peter,plus its not like I couldn't handle it." Charlie said a little offended.

"I know. I Just, I have to do this Charlie, you know me , I can't sit and do nothing while they're dying." Olivia said somewhat pleadingly.

"Fine,but If I feel you can't handle it..." Charlie began,but Olivia cut him off.

"Then you can pull me out, I know I can crack him,I have to..." Olivia said.

"Alright..." Charlie said. And the two walked over to Allen Jenkins. Olivia pulled up a chair and sat across from the Hartford employee.

"I remember you, you came into Hartford asking about Fuller." Allen said, not hiding the fact that he was slightly checking Olivia out.

"Yes I did. And I've got more questions." Olivia said with a stern and serious expression on her face.

"Where's the guy you came in with, the one who was checking out the computers." Allen said with slight smile. His smile grew bigger as he noticed a slight twitch in Olivia's facial features, proving that he'd hit a sore subject.

"I'm the one asking the questions? What were you doing at the warehouse? What do you know about the chemicals and the lab there?" Olivia said having recovered from his questions about Peter, and returning to her stoic, ' I mean business', attitude.

"Like I told that other agent, I don't know anything." Allen said calmly.

"Really? Then explain why you were found running away from this." Olivia said .

She then opened a folder , which contained several photo's. Olivia arranged them on the table and faced them toward Allen. The pictures were of two charred remains,presumably his partners, or perhaps other precipitants in whatever experimentation had been going on in the warehouses.

"I don't know what the hell that is." Allen said, though there was a flicker of disgust as he looked at the pictures.

"Do you really expect us to believe that, Allen." Olivia said then pulled out the pictures taken of, Steve and Carter's, remains.

"Because the same thing that happened to them , happened to your co-worker, Steven Fuller, and also a twelve year old boy. Any of this ringing any bells, you remembering anything yet, about what could of done this to them." Olivia said .

"No, I told you..." Allen began,but Olivia cut him off.

"You don't now anything, right, that's what you were going to say. Three Men and a little boy are dead, because of whatever you and who you work for concocted in some lab! And two more are dying,because you, don't know anything!" Olivia yelled grabbing the guy by the collar.

"Liv!" Charlie yelled speaking , after silently watching.

"I'm ok." Olivia said letting go of the guys collar and backing away from him.

Allen Jenkins calm was clearly gone now, he was even shaking, he wasn't expecting Olivia to snap like that, he had seriously underestimated her,but he wasn't quite ready to break yet, he feared his bosses more than this outraged agent, so he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"I think I should take over." Charlie said taking Olivia's hand and pulling her toward the door.

"No, I've got this, just let me try one more thing." Olivia said.

"Liv..." Charlie hesitated not sure what to say.

"Charlie,please, I know I can break him." Olivia said determined.

"Are you sure, you're not gonna attack him again." Charlie said after thinking about it.

"Yes, I know what I'm doing." Olivia said determined.

"Ok..." Charlie said against his better judgment, he understood why she was acting emotionally,but they still had to follow protocol.

" You can deny knowing anything, but we've fully decrypted the information on the Hartford computers, we know you set him up. " Olivia said.

"Set who up?" Allen said still feigning ignorance.

"You were the one sending Steven Fuller the emails,you supplied him with the substance,then made it seem like the emails came from a separate outside source,but we traced it back to your computer." Olivia said relaying the information she had gotten,when she entered the building.

"You can't prove it was me." Allen said.

"Wanna bet." Olivia said glaring at him.

"They'll kill me if I tell you, I wont say anything unless I get immunity." Allen said.

"You tell me everything, or I'll make sure you never see your son, or the light of day, ever again." Olivia said hitting the right nerve.

"Ok, ok...I'll tell you everything." Allen Jenkins said.


	9. Burn Out

"Who are you working for?" Olivia asked Allen Jenkins,knowing this time he would answer the question and any other she asked, truthfully.

"I never met them, they just contacted me one day, about a year ago." Allen answered.

"What did they want you to do?" Charlie asked.

" First to get them a file from the Hartford system, they paid me twenty five thousand dollars." Allen said.

"What did they make you do next?" Charlie asked.

"Then they wanted another file, that had higher security then the first. I refused, but they threatened my sons life." Allen said angrily.

"What did they want with the files?" Olivia asked wanting to get to the information concerning the lab and chemicals.

"It was research on a top secret performance enhancing drug they are working on at Hartford. They wanted the formula, I didn't want them to hurt my son. So on my shift I managed to go through the security protocols and send them the files undetected." Allen explained.

"And now because of you, four people are dead!" Olivia said .

"I never meant for that to happen, I didn't know...they didn't know about that side effect!" Allen said in defense.

"That doesn't change the fact that your cowardice created this mess...that... that drug is killing innocent people!" Olivia said.

"Do you still have the formula?" Charlie asked, taking over the question, seeing how upset Olivia was getting.

"Only the original, the formula that created the powder substance was modified ,the people who hired me have it." Allen said.

" What are the identities of the two men found at warehouse 28?" Charlie asked thinking they might get a lead from the names.

" Brent Garrison and Mike Dawson." Allen said not giving any additional information. Charlie wrote down the names.

" What did they have to do with the substance." Charlie asked.

"They were scientist paid to work on Minodrin." Allen answered.

" Is that what its called, the substance?" Olivia asked speaking suddenly.

"Yes." Allen answered.

" What was Steven Fuller doing with Minodrin?" Olivia asked, she figured if they knew what it was supposed to do,they could use that information to stop its adverse effect on both Peter and James Sterling.

" After I gave them the formula, I thought they were done with me ,but then a few months later they wanted me to use the secure network at Hartford to recruit test subjects, they threatened my son again, so I had to do it." Allen said continuing to use his son as an excuse for his actions.

"How many people did you expose to Minodrin?" Charlie asked.

"Including Steven Fuller, I recruited a total of fifteen participants, six from Hartford, the rest from various companies." Allen answered.

" We're gonna need the names of the other fourteen, so we can question them." Charlie said handing Allen a piece of paper and pen.

"There's no need...they're all... dead, the experiment was failure...they'll be coming for me next." Allen said.

"You said the original formula was modified, how so?" Olivia said thinking back to his earlier statement.

" The original formula was for a pill, the scientist turned it into a powder that could be easily dissolved in water . In doing that ,they made the drug more potent...and with great consumption... deadly." Allen said.

"How long have you known Minodrin was radioactive and deadly?" Olivia asked anger clearly in her voice.

"..." Allen stayed silent a guilty expression on his face.

"How...long?" Olivia asked again leaving a space between the two words.

" ...Six months." Allen hesitated then said.

"People like you make me sick." Olivia said looking disgustingly at Allen.

"What exactly does Minodrin do?" Charlie asked.

"Like I said it was a performance enhancement drug, it helped the participants to think and work faster. It's like speed, and attention deficit drugs ,rolled into one,but the effect is doubled. The problem was that the dose had to be increased over time to get the same effect as the initial dosage, I guessed the participants eventually burned out." Allen said no remorse at all in his voice.

"You son of a..." Olivia began,but Charlie gave her a look and she stopped.

"How did the scientist...'burn out'? " Charlie asked.

"I don't know, I got a message saying to go to warehouse 28, when I got there I saw the bodies , so I ran to get the hell out of there, that's when you guys caught me. I have absolutely no idea how they got that way." Allen explained.

"I'm going to go call Walter, to tell him what we've learned, call me if this piece of work tells you anything else that can help?" Olivia said.

"OK." Charlie said.

"Hey, what about my son, they'll know I talked to the FBI, they'll kill him." Allen said as Olivia started to walk out of the room.

"Your son has already been moved to a secure location, you keep telling the truth and maybe you'll see him again." Olivia said then walked away.

Harvard, Boston Massachusetts : 2 Hours Left

"Hows the progress on the cure, Walter?" Olivia asked as she walked into the lab.

"I'm almost there,but there's still something missing, I need to know how they modified the original drug. Are you sure, this Allen Jenkins doesn't know anything about the altered formula?" Walter asked frustrated.

"He said the people who hired him have it,but I don't exactly trust the guy." Olivia said.

"The hospital just called." Astrid said suddenly walking into the room.

"Is Peter alright?" Olivia said worse case possibilities appearing in his head.

"They said he's getting worse,the radiation is spreading up his abdomen, like it did with James." Astrid said with a grim look on her face. Olivia suddenly turned to Walter and spoke

"I know you can solve this Walter. A few days ago, you said something about how all this was familiar. could Hartford be a secret division of Massive Dynamic. Think about it, all of our cases until now have been connected to William Bell, I know you can solve this, and Peter believes in you too." Olivia said.

"Yes, each stage of this investigation has me reaching in my memory trying to grasp it... I'm going to try one more thing. You should go be with Peter, he shouldn't be alone right now, and I know he will be most pleased to see you right now." Walter said then turned to the samples and chemicals on the table.

Scottsburg General

"Hey you." Peter said when Olivia walked into room.

"Hey..." Olivia said walking over to him.

"Why the long face...is someone dying." Peter said jokingly.

"That's not funny." Olivia said clearly not amused.

"Sorry...I say stupid things,when I'm in bad situations." Peter said.

"I'm the one who should be saying sorry." Olivia suddenly said.

"For what?" Peter asked confused.

"For getting you into this. If I'd never tracked you down to be Walter's guardian, you wouldn't be here now, laying in this hospital bed." Olivia said avoiding eye contact with Peter.

"That's not true Liv. It isn't your fault, it's the bastards who cooked up this radiation or whatever the hell it is! And if you'd never tracked me down, Walter wouldn't be doing what he loves, again. And as for me, I would never have met you, and that's something I would never want to take back." Peter confessed.

Olivia glanced up and met his eyes, seeing the sincerity in them, and hearing it in his voice as he spoke. She felt so helpless, Walter and Peter had come to mean so much to her,they were a team after all and the thought of losing Peter ,just that single thought, filled her heart with emotion.

"What are you thinking about?" Peter asked Olivia, seeing that her mind was somewhere else.

"Nothing really." Olivia lied. She really wasn't ready to admit to ,the ultimate conclusion to her thoughts about losing Peter, either to him ,or to herself.

"Hows James doing?" Peter asking seeing that Olivia didn't want to talk, so he changed the subject.

"His vitals are stable, that machine of Walter's is doing a good job. Walter thinks he's close to the cure, hes going to call me when he cracks it." Olivia said confident that Walter would solve this. As she mulled over that last thought, something clicked in her head.

"I think I might know what Walter's missing, about the modified formula!" Olivia said figuring something out.

"What did you figure out?" Peter asked hopeful.

"Remember how I didn't get sick, even though I was just as close to the radiation as you were?" Olivia said.

"Yeah,but what does that have to do with the missing piece?" Peter asked still confused.

"Well, think about it, what do all the victims have in common?" Olivia said. Peter thought about it , then the answer came to him.

"They're all males!" Peter said catching on to the same wave length as Olivia.

"Exactly!" Olivia said.

"But, wait, how does that help me and James?" Peter asked getting the concept,but not how it could help in curing him and James.

"There must be something about males, that makes this drug work in them, and not women and vice versa." Olivia explained.

"Gotcha." Peter said , smiling a little at the role reversal of sorts.

"I'm gonna call Walter." Olivia said walking toward the door excited about her revelation. She stopped when she heard Peter speak.

"Hey, Liv." Peter said.

"Yeah?" Olivia said turning to face him.

"You're kinda brilliant." Peter said wearing his trademark smirk.

"Right back at ya." Olivia said then exited the room, to call Walter.


	10. Leaving Things Unsaid

"This ,may just be exactly what's missing, there must be something in the male chemistry that reacts with Minodrin, I can not believe I did not think about this before." Walter said shaking his head, when Olivia entered the building.

"I didn't think of it before, either, Walter." Olivia said as she walked over to him.

"Do you have the formula?" Walter asked, and Olivia handed him a piece of computer paper,with the formula printed on it.

"Right here." Olivia said.

"Thank you...How's Peter?" Walter asked as he worked mixing different chemicals .

" Surprisingly calm, he's even making jokes." Olivia said thinking about her latest visit with him at the hospital.

"It's what he does, even when hes scared, he tries his hardest not to show weakness... that's partly my fault." Walter said pausing before he said the last part .

"And Peter knows you're trying to make up for that now." Olivia said hearing the guilt and regret in Walters voice.

"Yes..I suppose he does. I'll need another sample of your blood." Walter said after looking through a microscope and noting his findings.

Walter drew Olivia's blood then worked furiously around the lab mixing different solutions in test tubes , and muttering to himself as he concentrated on the task at hand, finding a cure for Peter, and James. While Olivia discussed with Charlie, on her cell, about how the rest of the interrogation went , and Astrid worked on decrypting the rest of the email files between Allen Jenkins and the other Minodrin participants.

"I think I've got it !" Walter suddenly said as Olivia hung up the phone with Charlie; he wasn't able to get anything else out of Allen Jenkins.

"You found the cure?" Olivia said practically running over to Walter, even though she was only a few feet away from him.

"Yes...but..." Walter began as he examined a yellowish solution.

"But?" Olivia asked wondering what the problem was.

" It will take much longer then Peter has, to figure out the correct dosage, if we give him too much, he could die, and..." Walter explained.

"And if we wait ,we'll still lose him." Olivia said, sighing frustratingly.

'' Are you sure there isn't a faster way to figure out the dosage,we still have some frogs left.'' Astrid said walking over to Walter and Olivia.

'' I'm quite certain, the solution can only be tested on an infected human male, it will not work on another species.'' Walter said.

''There's gotta be another way.'' Olivia said stubbornly.

'' I'm afraid there isn't one ,that wont greatly risk Peter's life.'' Walter said sadly.

'' But we could lose him anyway, if we don't try something,we've found alternatives before.'' Olivia said.

'' But there isn't enough time!'' Walter said clearly frustrated.

'' I think the decision should be up to Peter,its his life.'' Astrid said tired of the back and forth between Walter and Olivia that was clearly going nowhere.

'' I believe Ariel is right.'' Walter said.

'' Its Astrid.'' Astrid said rolling her eyes.

'' Right, I believe Astrid, is right, it is ultimately Peters decision.'' Walter said.

Scottsburg General

'' So let me get this straight,Walter found the cure,but If i take it,it could kill me and if I don't , I'll die anyway. Excuse me if,I don't exactly see the good side to either.'' Peter said in his usual ,nonchalant sarcastic, tone, after Olivia explained the cure situation.

'' I know...Walter said there isn't time to figure anything else...so the choice is up to you.'' Olivia said, trying to keep an optimistic look on her face.

Peter seemed to slip into deep thought, the fact that he had several thoughts running through his head,apparent on his face by his concentrated expression. Five minutes of silence passed,when Peter finally spoke.

''If we try this cure on me, Walter will be able to tell how much to give James, whether I survive or not,right?'' Peter asked.

'' Yeah,but...'' Olivia began,but Peter cut her off.

'' Then I'll do it.'' Peter said sounding the most serious she'd ever heard him, and taking her off guard.

'' You don't have to do this, we can figure out another way, Broyles can talk to global dynamics, maybe someone there can help.'' Olivia said not wanting to face the chance of losing Peter.

'' We both know its too late for that. '' Peter said.

"We've also beat impossible odds before." Olivia said.

"I can't take the chance, we can't keep James frozen forever and I'm running out of time. He's just a kid, with people who love and care about him ,and who can't live without him. I made a promise to James that we would save him, I might be his only chance at becoming normal again." Peter said.

"There are people who love and care about you too." Olivia said almost inaudibly,but he still heard her.

"I know,but I've lived my life, seen and done things most people haven't , or never will do. James deserves that chance too. That's why I have to do this, wouldn't you'd do the same if there was a little girl who needed your help." Peter said.

"Yes...I would." Olivia quietly admitted thinking about her niece, she'd risk her life for Ella ,no doubt about it.

Peter noticed the downward shift in her mood, he could tell she was deeply affected by what was happening, and he hated that she was feeling that way because of him. But he meant every word he'd said about James, he had to do this, it was the only way to save James.

Of course he was scared, he could die, hell he was already dying,but seeing the look on Olivia's face, was worse then the fact that he was dying . He knew he had to do something to lighten the mood,if that was even possible in a situation like this.

" Liv, hey, it could all turn out ok ,I've survived worst, we've survived worse." Peter said breaking the silence and slightly grinning .

"True,but..." Olivia began but Peter cut her off.

"And we can survive this too,but just in case...can you make sure Walter's taken care of." Peter said thinking realistically.

"Of course,but you wont have to worry about that because, It'll work out fine." Olivia said trying her hardest to keep a handle on her emotions, to be strong for Peter and herself.

"Have you made your decision,son." Walter asked suddenly walking into the hospital room.

"Yeah...I'll take the cure." Peter said looking up at his father.

"Very well,we should do it now." Walter said,then pulled out a syringe filled with the yellowish liquid inside.

"Walter,can you give us a second." Olivia said and Walter nodded then left the room, leaving Peter and Olivia alone.

Olivia took a deep breath then moved closer to Peter, looking into his eyes a serious expression on her face.

"So..." Peter said starring at her curiously.

"I just wanted to say that, you're doing a brave thing,by taking this risk." Olivia said trying her hardest to stay brave herself,but a lone tear escaped.

"Hey, hey...It'll be ok " Peter said.

"I...I don't want to lose you." Olivia said no longer able to keep those thoughts to herself.

Peter reached out his hand,which for some reason had remained untouched by the radiation, and touched her face wiping away her tear. She felt the same warmth she'd felt that night after the light bomb incident,when Peter and her both admitted that they cared about each other. They'd come close to dying that day,but they'd survived. Surely he could survive this too.

"You'll never lose me." Peter said caressing her face and starring deeply into her eyes.

"Peter...I...I need to tell you something else." Olivia begin knowing this could be her last chance to express how she truly felt about him.

" Don't. Liv..not now, whatever you have to tell me, save it, for when James is healthy again and I'm out of this damn hospital." Peter said having a feeling of what she was going to say. He didn't want it to be said because he was dying, and that she was feeling sorry for him.

"Okay." Olivia said not sure what to think.

She could see something in his eyes,but for once, she couldn't exactly tell what it was he was thinking. So she just squeezed his hand , then gently kissed his forehead. When she pulled away they both starred at each other intensely, saying everything,without speaking one single word.

"Are you ready, son." Walter said coming in and breaking up the moment.

"Yeah,lay it on my Walter." Peter said smiling nervously.

Walter approached Peter and injected the yellowish solution into his IV bag. The solution trickled down and traveled down the tube and in through the IV attached to Peter's unaffected hand. The room was silent as Walter and Olivia stood waiting for an effect, and suddenly one came. Peter's monitors started beating rapidly as his body shook and contorted on the bed. Nurse's and a doctor quickly rushed in.

"What's happening to him?" Olivia asked as she watched.

"He's having a seizure, get them out of here!" The doctor said and two nurses ushered a shaking Walter and, worried Olivia out of the room.

Olivia and Walter stood on the outside of Peter's hospital,both stricken with worry and helpless to do anything about it. Olivia felt like she was going through some sort of deja vu, she was losing someone she cared about yet again ,but this time she'd left things unsaid and was now faced with the possibility of never being able to say them.


	11. Not So Easily Defeated

Previously on Ability to Love

Walter approached Peter and injected the yellowish solution into his IV bag. The solution trickled down , then traveled down the tube and in through the IV attached to Peter's unaffected hand. The room was silent as Walter and Olivia stood waiting for an effect, and suddenly one came. Peter's monitors started beeping rapidly as his body shook and contorted on the bed. Nurse's and a doctor quickly rushed in.

"What's happening to him?" Olivia asked as she watched.

"He's having a seizure, get them out of here!" The doctor said and two nurses ushered a shaking Walter and, worried Olivia out of the room.

Olivia and Walter stood on the outside of Peter's hospital room,both stricken with worry and helpless to do anything about it. Olivia felt like she was going through some sort of deja vu, she was losing someone she cared about yet again ,but this time she'd left things unsaid and was now faced with the possibility of never being able to say them.

Olivia watched helplessly through the window of the hospital room as the doctors and nurses worked on Peter. Walter stood next to her clearly distraught and muttering to himself as he too peered through the window. Peter's body was still shaking and contorting on the bed,but the nurses had him on his side, which was the normal procedure during a seizure like the one Peter was experiencing.

Five minutes passed and the seizure stopped, Peter was no longer shaking or contorting, in fact he was completely still and lay unconscious. About fifteen minutes later , the doctor emerged from the hospital room and over to Walter and Olivia, a serious expression on his face.

"Is he alright?" Olivia asked , before Walter could.

" We were able to stop the seizure, which was probably a side effect of the radiation antidote, you gave him." The doctor said.

" So the serum didn't work...I've killed him...I've killed my son..." Walter said even more distraught then before.

"On the contrary, Dr. Bishop, whatever you gave him is working ,the burns are healing as we speak." The doctor said.

"If the cure worked, why do I feel that there's more you have to tell us?" Olivia said having a feeling something was still wrong.

" Although the radiation burns are disappearing, I'm afraid Peter is unresponsive, he seems to have fallen into a coma." The doctor explained.

" But, he'll wake up right, lots of people come out of coma's all the time." Walter said with an amount of certainty in his voice.

"It's too soon to tell anything, all we can do right now is wait." The doctor said , not wanting to give them false hope.

" Can we go in and see him?" Olivia asked, wanting nothing more then to go in and see for herself that he was still alive and breathing.

"Of course." The doctor said stepping aside and letting Walter and Olivia walk into the hospital room.

Olivia walked over to Peters left side looking down at him, Walter stood by the right side of the bed . He appeared to be sleeping,but he was just a little too still for normal unconsciousness. She gently ran her hand across his face , halfway hoping her touch would wake him, and that he'd be ready with some witty and comical remark,but the only sound was the drip,drip, of the IV's now hooked in both arms, and the beeping of the machines that showed his vitals.

"It's amazing how fast the solution worked... I only wish it hadn't put his life at risk." Walter said looking a little more lost than usual, as he gazed at the unconscious Peter.

" He knew you would figure it out Walter, it's why he took the risk, that and to save James." Olivia said trying to make Walter feel better.

"Yes..the Sterling boy, now that we know it works, Peter would want us to administer the cure to the child as soon as possible." Walter said, but he was reluctant to leave Peter, which Olivia could clearly see.

"I'll stay with Peter, you go make sure James get's unfrozen and receives the right dosage." Olivia said, knowing keeping busy would also keep Walter from sitting and worrying about Peter.

"Yes...I shall do that.." Walter said, he then patted Peter's head then turned to walk away.

"Walter..." Olivia said stopping him before he exited the door.

"Yes..." Walter said turning around to face her.

"Peter's strong, he'll be alright." Olivia said flashing him a reassuring smiling.

"I do hope so." Walter said then exited the room.

Peter felt strange, he'd been through some strange stuff before,but this was different. He was awake. He knew he was lying down somewhere,presumably a bed,because he could feel the sheets beneath his hands and the softness of a pillow underneath his head,but for some reason he couldn't open his eyes. The fact that he was on a bed ,made him realize immediately that he wasn't in the hotel room, he and Walter shared.

So where was he then. He couldn't think of where he was, or why he would even be there. What was going on, why couldn't he open his eye's, where was Walter, where was Durham? As he thought that second name everything suddenly started to come back to him. He remembered the case he was investigating with Olivia, the dying young boy,James Sterling, and their warehouse lead. Then he had gotten himself exposed to radiation. He was dying, along with the boy.

Then something else happened , something that probably put him in the state he was in, wherever he was. Which he began to assume was a hospital bed. He worried about James, and remembered that Walter had found the cure. He then worried that the cure hadn't worked , that the young preteen would die, and so would he. He thought of Olivia ,and the moment they shared, before Walter administered the cure, suddenly came back to him.

He had promised James, he'd find a way to save him . He had promised Olivia that she wouldn't lose him, and Walter needed him. He had to find a way to open his eye's. To make sure James was ok, to see Walter and Olivia, and to make sure that if he was in fact dying ,that he was able to say goodbye to those he loved and cared about.

He tried again to open his eyes,but the lids were so heavy,they just would not budge. He tried moving his hands to his face, to some how force his eyes open ,but he could barely lift them,even though they felt lighter then they had been before Walter administered the cure.

He stopped trying to move ,feeling tired from the mental exertion . After some amount of time, he couldn't exactly tell how much , he tried again. This time he was able to lift his right eyelid ever so slightly. He mentally cheered at the minor accomplishment. Resting again, he tried the other eye and was able lift it slightly as well. He inwardly grinned at the improvement. He didn't know how much time had passed,but he increased the control over his eyes until he was able to completely open his left eye, then the right.

His vision was blurry. So at first all he could see were blurry shapes, some were bright,others had more shade to them,but none were distinguishable to him. He spotted a shape that seemed big enough to be a human,either that or some hospital machinery. He tried to speak in the direction of the shape,but found his throat too dry to say a word. After a few minutes his vision began to clear a little bit, and he was able to move his left arm and hand.

He reached out toward what could possibly be a table and lightly hit it. The human figure suddenly came closer,but he couldn't quite hear what he or she was saying to him. He tried to speak again ,and when the figure spoke again, this time he was able to understand what was said . He couldn't, however, distinguish whose voice it was speaking to him.

'' I can't believe you're awake, you probably want a drink of water, I was pretty thirsty when I woke up too.'' the voice said, then, Peter felt,what was probably a cup, fit in his hand.

He was able to sit up and bring the item to his mouth,when he felt the straw,he knew for certain it was a cup. The cool ice water felt so refreshing as it flowed down his parched throat. He cleared his throat , then his vision became even clearer as he recognized the figure in front of him.

''James?'' Peter said both confused and happy to see the twelve year old ,who was smiling at him.

'' Yep,its me, I should probably get the doctor.'' James said then turned to leave,but Peter stopped him.

'' Wait a sec, what happened? Not that I'm not happy to see ya kid,but you were frozen, and now your not,which means the cure worked right?'' Peter said needing to sort everything out.

'' Yep, your Dad figured it out, just like you promised. You weren't there when I woke up,but since you saved my life, I'll let that one go.'' James said smiling.

'' If it worked, then what happened to me?'' Peter asked still confused.

'' They said you had something called a sew something, after they gave you the cure.'' James said unable to pronounce the word.

'' You mean a seizure.'' Peter said.

'' Yeah, that's the word. Then they couldn't wake you up.'' James said.

'' How long have I been out,a few days?'' Peter asked,knowing the doctors wouldn't be worried if it had only been a few hours.

'' Nope, a whole week. They didn't think you were gonna wake up .'' James answered.

'' You're kidding me.'' Peter said shocked.

'' Nope. Maybe I should get the doc.'' James said noticing that Peter seemed kind of out of it.

'' Where's Agent Dunham and my dad?'' Peter said noticing a lack of their presence in the room.

'' My mom took them go get coffee in the cafeteria. Is Olivia your girlfriend?'' James asked shocking Peter again.

'' Uh, no, we're friends. Why would you ask that?'' Peter asked wondering what would bring the twelve year old to that conclusion.

'' Cause, she hasn't left your hospital room since you went into the coma. My mom had to practically drag her out the room a few minutes ago .Even after I offered to stay with you, I could tell she didn't want to leave. I think she likes you, do you like her?" James asked curious .

"I think you should go find your mom. Walter and Olivia should know I'm awake." Peter said clearly avoiding James questions.

"Um,ok." James said getting that Peter didn't want to answer his questions, he then left the room to find his mom.

This left Peter alone again with his thoughts. Which were on none other than Olivia Dunham. He thought back to James' first question , about Olivia being his girlfriend. He hadn't lied when he said she wasn't,but his connection with Olivia was definitely deeper then simple friendship. As if she knew he was thinking about her,Olivia suddenly walked into the room.

"You're awake?" She said walking over to him, a bright smile on her face.

" As far as I can tell, yeah,I am." Peter said in his usual tone, which made Olivia's smile even greater, she'd missed his sarcasm.

"The doctor thought you wouldn't wake up." Olivia said.

"Can't get rid of me that easily." Peter said grinning.

" I wouldn't want to, you're too valuable." Olivia said ,and before Peter could respond Walter walked excitedly into the room.

"Peter!" Walter said walking over and hugging him fiercely.

" It's nice to see you too, Walter,but I also like being able to breathe." Peter said.

"Oh, sorry, did I hurt you?" Walter said then released Peter from the hug.

"It's ok Walter, I'm fine." Peter said giving his father a reassuring smile.

'' Has the doctor examined you yet?'' Walter asked.

'' No. I'm fine, I'm ready to get out of here.'' Peter said remembering how much he hated hospitals.

'' After you're examined. We need to be sure there isn't any lasting damage from the serum,seizure, or the coma'' Walter said clearly worried and feeling guilty about putting Peter's life at risk.

'' I said,I'm fine,Walter.'' Peter said stubbornly.

'' I'm sure you are,but it would ease both of our minds, if we knew, for sure, that you are alright. It shouldn't take that long, for the doctor to check you out.'' Olivia said stepping in.

'' Ok, fine.'' Peter said giving in. It seemed he'd been doing that allot lately, when Olivia was around.

'' I'll go get the doctor.'' Walter said leaving the room, and leaving them alone together.

There was a momentary silence between the two,neither knowing what to say to the other. After they both seemed to be in deep thought,they began to speak, surprisingly at the same time.

'' Liv...'' Peter said.

'' Peter..'' Olivia said.

'' You go first.'' Peter said.

'' No,its ok, you can go first.'' Olivia said , suddenly getting nervous.

'' Ladies first.'' Peter said with a smirk.

'' No, really, mines not that important.'' Olivia said.

'' Everything you say is important.'' Peter said,which made Olivia slightly blush.

'' Ok, I'll go first. I...uh...It's really good to see you Peter Bishop, I'm glad you're ok.'' Olivia said chickening out on what she really wanted to say, when she remembered him stopping her from saying more,when they'd talked ,before his coma.

'' It's good to see you too, Olivia Dunham. I've been thinking...can I ask you something?'' Peter said.

'' What's on your mind?'' Olivia asked, almost afraid to hear what he had to say.

'' What else were you gonna tell me?'' Peter asked taking Olivia by surprise, he knew he was risking the opening of a can of worms,but he didn't want to turn back.

'' What do you mean?'' Olivia asked,even though she knew exactly what he was referring to.

'' Before, Walter gave me the cure, you wanted to tell me something,but I stopped you.'' Peter explained,even though he had a feeling she knew exactly what he was talking about.

'' It doesn't matter now, its no longer relevant.'' Olivia said not ready to confess anything,mostly because she was afraid, something she did not like to admit,even to herself.

''You sure about that? '' Peter asked.

''Yeah.'' Olivia said,but her tone didn't exactly hold an air of confidence. Peter gave her an incredulous look, that said ' we both know what you just said was a lie' .

'' Walter should have found the doctor by now. I wonder what's taking him so long?'' Peter said changing the subject,seeing that Olivia wasn't ready to talk, and part of him wasn't quite ready to hear,what he knew she had really wanted to say to him.

''I'll go check.'' Olivia said then headed for the door.

''I'll be right here. Not going anywhere.'' Peter said , as he watched her walk away.

Two Days Later

"So can I go home already?" Peter said rudely to the doctor.

Though he felt alright, the doctor had insisted he stay another day in the hospital for observation. And when the doctor learned of his strange symptoms after awakening from the coma, his temporary vision , hearing and muscle impairments , he was forced to stay another day in the hospital, to have blood drawn and tests taken,which all came back inconclusive.

"You're free to go, as soon as you sign your discharge papers." The doctor said.

"Great, bring on the paperwork." Peter said. The doctor then left the room ,to have one of the nurses print out Peter's discharge papers.

"I've never seen someone so excited to sign a piece of paper." Olivia said slightly smiling.

" Let's just say, I'm not a fan of hospitals. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually miss the hotel couch." Peter said to Olivia with a smirk.

"Here you go, Mr . Bishop." A nurse said walking into the room and handing Peter a few pages of printed paper, stapled together.

"Thank, you." Peter said and hurriedly scribbled his name on the proper pages and sections. He then handed the paper back to the nurse and quickly got out of the bed grabbing his wallet, coat, and the bag of clothes he'd arrived in, now sterilized , when he'd entered the hospital.

"Lets go, there's no way I'm letting them wheel me out of here." Peter said heading for the door, he looked left , then right ,making sure no nurses were in sight , then sneaked quickly down the hallway and toward the elevator. Olivia following him, while shaking her head, and laughing slightly, at Peter's paranoid behavior.

They made it down to the main floor and out the front entrance, without being detected,which wasn't too hard because it was already dark out. They walked over to Olivia's car and drove to the hotel, in almost complete silence. Thirty minutes later they arrived at the hotel where Peter and Walter were staying. Olivia walked him to the door.

"You wanna come in?" Peter asked as they stood in front of the door.

"Sure." Olivia said. Peter opened the door and was immediately met with a shout.

"Surprise, Welcome home Peter!" Walter said when they walked through the door.

"Did you know about this?" Peter asked turning to Olivia.

"Yeah, and Walter worked real hard on planning this, so be nice." Olivia said, and Peter had no choice to comply.

They walked further into the hotel , which was decorated with streamers and a banner that read 'Welcome Home, Peter!' . Standing in the room with Walter, was Astrid , who smiled in greeting at Peter.

"You guy's shouldn't have done this,but..uh..thanks." Peter said , doing what Olivia had asked,being nice.

" I'm glad you're doing better, Peter." Astrid said giving him a friendly hug.

"Thanks." Peter said.

"I made cake, your favorite." Walter said motioning to the small table in the room.

"Thanks, Walter." Peter said smiling at the excitement in his father's voice.

Later That Night

Peter couldn't sleep. Astrid and Olivia had stayed for an hour and a half, after they all ate pieces of the cake Walter had made, apparently in his lab at Harvard. After Olivia and Astrid left,Walter hovered over Peter,making sure he was ok, till he felt like he was going insane. He finally was able to convince Walter to go to sleep at about eleven o'clock. And he was left alone sitting on the couch lost in his thoughts.

It was now three am, and Peter couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't that he wasn't tired, in fact he was exhausted,he just couldn't seem to fall asleep. Sure he'd been through a lot in the past two and a half weeks,but the insomnia had never been this bad. He tossed and turned on the couch, frustratingly got up and started pacing back and forth in the hotel room. He checked on Walter, than went back to pacing.

When that didn't relax him, he went back over to the couch laying down again, just starring up at the ceiling. Suddenly his attention shifted to the door, when he heard movement outside of it. He grabbed the bat by the couch, which Walter had insisted Peter get, after he'd been released from Saint Claire's, and headed over to the door, he opened it surprised ,yet relieved to see the person on the other side.

Olivia couldn't sleep. When she'd gotten back from the hotel Peter and Walter were staying at, she'd worked on finishing the paper work on the Minodrin case. Allen Jenkins had been further questioned about his employers, and anything else he could tell them about the drug trials. He was then transferred to a maximum security facility,but en route to the facility the convoy was attacked ,and all that was left of Allen Jenkins was a burned corpse.

The murder of Allen Jenkins, made her even more determined to find the group in charge of the Pattern incidents. She was certain they were getting close and that Allen was killed so he would never be able to give the FBI any information on the bio-terrorist group.

After she'd finished her write up, on the events of the latest Pattern incident, she'd showered then changed into her pajamas before crawling into bed. She'd tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come, the hours minutes and seconds passed slowly. And after tossing and turning she got up out of bed and started to pace a little hoping to tire herself out.

When that didn't work, she walked over the guest room and checked on Rachel and Ella,who were both sound asleep. She then returned to her bedroom, and after another hour of sleepless tossing and turning, she decided that maybe some fresh air would help. She changed into a pair of sweats and a tank top, grabbed a light jacket. her wallet and keys, then left a quick note for Rachel, before exiting her apartment.

She walked aimlessly for about fifteen minutes, until she found herself in the neighborhood that housed the hotel Walter and Peter stayed at. She was going to turn around and head back to her apartment ,but something told her to keep walking and to go see Peter. She got off the elevator and walked over to Peter's hotel room, stopping at the door.

She hesitated at the door, not quite sure what to do. Should she knock on the door? It was three o'clock in the morning, he probably wouldn't even be awake. " What are you doing Liv?", she said out loud to herself. She shook her head and turned to leave, stopping when she heard the door open behind her.

"Liv,jeez you scared me. " Peter said surprised to see her.

"Sorry..." Olivia said.

"What are you doing here?" Peter asked,though he was happy to see her.

"I couldn't sleep..." Olivia said , not knowing what else to say.

"It's ok...I couldn't either... wanna take a walk?" Peter said, thinking maybe she wanted to talk.

"Sure..." Olivia said.

"Let me grab my coat and shoes." Peter said ,motioning for her to come in , as he slipped on some shoes, grabbed his jacket and wrote a quick note for Walter, in case he woke up in the middle of the night and found Peter gone. Peter grabbed the keys, exited the hotel room and locked the door behind him, before walking side by side with Olivia.

They walked for about ten minutes and ended up in a local park. They took a seat on a bench and both just sat there silent for a few minutes starring at the sky, moon and the stars. Suddenly Peter broke the silence.

"What's on your mind?" Peter asked.

"A lot of things." Olivia said continuing to stare at the sky.

"Why don't you tell me about it, I can be a pretty good listener, when I want to." Peter said with a smirk.

"I just...I just can't stop thinking about the pattern. Each case we encounter is worse then the next, and innocent people keep dying and getting hurt. I have this feeling that it's just gonna keep getting worse. Soon they'll start targeting us personally, what if something happens to Rachel, or Ella." Olivia said voicing some of her fears.

"Liv,hey, that's not gonna happen, I wont let that happen. We will find whoever is behind the pattern, and we'll take em down. You, me , Walter, Charlie, Astrid and Broyles, we're the fringe division, and we are not, so easily defeated. Sure we'll take some hits, come close to risking it all, but we always bounce back." Peter said confidently.

''When did you get so optimistic'' Olivia said smiling at him.

'' Probably when I started working with you.''Peter said smiling back.

''Well I'm not feeling very optimistic,these last few weeks have been so...'' Olivia began,pausing to search for the right word.

''Insane,tiring ,exhausting,crazy,chaotic, hectic,frustrating ,unbelievable?'' Peter said.

'' All of the above.'' Olivia said laughing.

'' And we survived it all. '' Peter said.

'' Yeah we did.'' Olivia said thinking about it.

'' Yep.'' Peter said and there was a momentary silence between the two, till Olivia broke the silence this time.

'' You don't have to keep doing this.'' Olivia said out of nowhere.

'' Doing what?'' Peter asked confused.

''Putting your life in danger. Walter is doing much better,you were kind of dragged into all of this ,I'd understand if you wanted to go back to living your life. '' Olivia said.

'' Where is this coming from? I thought I made my intentions clear,when I made the whole we're a team speech. This is my life now, having a relationship with my father, crazy as it might be sometimes, and solving cases with you...and getting to know and care about you,it's changed me, I feel like I finally found some kind of purpose, and you Olivia Dunham are a very big part of that.'' Peter turning her to face him and looking into her eye's as he spoke that last part.

" I guess, I'm scared of losing my partner again...I know that sounds silly,but when you put your trust in someone , there's always that possibility of losing them in one way or another...and I guess what I'm saying is that over these few months I've come to trust and care about you. And when you got infected, I realized the thought...just the thought of losing you, would create a hole in my life, one I couldn't live with." Olivia said putting it all out there.

"Is that what you wanted to tell me before?" Peter asked beginning to understand.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't know how quite to say it ,until now." Olivia said relieved to finally confess her fears and true feelings.

"I told you before, guess you didn't hear me, but you'll never lose me, I want to be here for you, and with you." Peter said starting out sarcastic, then getting serious.

"You do?" Olivia asked not noticing, when they'd gotten closer to each other on the bench.

"Yeah." Peter said then leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips, taking her by surprise,but in a good way.

Olivia kissed him back, and Peter slipped one hand gently around to cup her face the other tangled in her hair. While Olivia's went around his neck pulling him even closer to her closing , what little gap was left between them. They broke apart ten minutes later, both breathing heavily after their passionate and intense kiss.

They leaned back against the bench ,and Peter's arm rested around her shoulder, as she lay her head against his chest. Neither said a word, because there was nothing left to be said. They'd said all that needed to be said with words, and the rest was expressed in those ten minutes. Ten minutes that would change everything, and also nothing for the two, as they faced the Pattern together. And together they would , not so easily be defeated.


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter, enjoy.  
> -P.Rom

4 Months Later

Peter awoke shuddering. He could feel cold sweat beads running down his face and on his chest and torso. He couldn't remember what he was dreaming about. All he knew, was that whatever it was terrified him. He turned to his left, where Olivia lay sleeping. He gently moved a tendril of hair, that was covering her right eye, away from her face. He then got up and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. Though he didn't remember the dream, he knew that, that same dream had been haunting him every night for two weeks now.

He and Olivia had gotten closer and closer over the past four months,while continuing to work on cases related to the pattern. They'd been pretty busy for the past couple weeks, so this was the first night, in awhile, that they were spending together at Olivia's apartment. Rather than working late at Walter's lab or at Walter and Peter's new place, with Walter hovering around.

Peter turned on the light in the kitchen,grabbed a cup from the cabinet, and a gallon of water from the fridge. He filled the glass and when he turned around, he nearly dropped the glass.

"Jeez,Liv, you scared me!" Peter said when he saw Olivia standing in front of him.

"Sorry...I woke up and didn't see you. Nightmares?" She asked walking over to him.

"Yeah..." Peter said.

"You ok?" Olivia asked.

"I'm always ok, when I'm with you sweetheart." Peter said with a smirk, wrapping his arm around her, and pulling her closer to him.

"That's very sweet,but you're trying to change the subject."Olivia said.

"Am not..." Peter said avoiding her eye's.

"Peter...talk to me." Olivia said reaching up and placing her hand on his face, pulling his face to look at hers.

"I'm ok,really,Liv ." Peter said sincerely,leaning down and kissing her gently on the lips.

"Well...I think we should go back to bed then..." Olivia said seeing he wasn't quite ready to talk.

" Why, Agent Dunham,I think that's a great idea." Peter said kissing her again then taking her hand and leading her back to the bedroom.

Once back in the bedroom,Peter continued to kiss her, removing her tank top, while she had her arms wrapped around his neck deepening the kiss. When she was down to just her panties and bra, they moved onto the bed. Peter moved away from her mouth and gently kissed her neck as she moved her hands through his hair. They then proceeded to make love.

An hour later Olivia lay on the bed with her head resting on Peter's chest and her arm wrapped around his waist. Peter lay flat on his back , his arm ran across her back,holding her close to him as they cuddled warm and content in the others embrace. Peter gently stroked her hair as they lay there, neither saying a word,until Olivia suddenly spoke.

"Peter..." Olivia said lifting her head from his bare chest and looking up at Peter.

"Yeah,babe?" Peter said sitting up and giving her his full attention.

"There's something I want to say to you..." Olivia began.

"I'm all ears." Peter said with a smirk.

"I'm serious,Peter..." Olivia said slightly annoyed.

"I know sweetheart...I'm listening." Peter said gently running his hand up and down her arm.

"This isn't easy for me...talking about my feelings,so bare with me,ok?" Olivia said clearly nervous.

"Take as much time as you need sweetheart." Peter said giving her a reassuring smile .

Ok, here it goes,when I'm with you...things always seem better, you make me laugh, you drive me crazy with your stubbornness. You support, and you challenge me. I never thought I'd feel this way about anyone again, especially after what happened with John and everything with the pattern..." Olivia said temporarily flashing back to everything that happened with John Scott.

'' You're safe with me.'' Peter said taking her hand in his and squeezing it.

''You can also be very sweet...when you want to be.'' Olivia said with a smirk.

''Hey...''

'' And I trust you, to have my back and with my life...and I think it's time I trust you with my full heart... I guess what I'm trying to say ... is that, I love you Peter. I never thought I'd feel this way again, but I fell in love with you and I can honestly say that I trust you with my heart, and I hope you never break it.'' Olivia said, saying all that she needed to say.

She watched for his reaction, a little afraid when he took a few seconds to have one. Peter leaned forward and kissed Olivia passionately,then broke the kiss.

'' I love you too,Olivia. You can trust me with your heart,because you've held mine since our first kiss four months ago. And I would be an absolute idiot and a fool, to even think about breaking yours.'' Peter said then kissed her again.

They broke the kiss a few minutes later and resumed their cuddling position. Though they couldn't get any closer physically. The bond between the agent, and the FBI civilian liaison was even stronger then it had been an hour prior.

It had taken awhile ,with trials and tribulations ,ups and downs and losses, in the all around abnormal world of the pattern,that she'd been unwillingly dragged into. But Olivia had also gained so much, she'd gained family through Walter and Astrid,as well as reconnecting with her younger sibling. She'd gained a sort of mentor through Broyles and a stronger friendship and partnership with Charlie. And lastly she'd gained the ability to love again,through Peter Bishop, her friend, confidant and lover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes my story, this was my very first Fringe fic and I am very proud of it, I hope you enjoyed reading it, if you want to read more of my fringe stories, you can check me out at ff.net under the name Pessimistic Romanticist, or let me know and I will post more of my fringe fics on here, thanks for reading.  
> -P.Rom


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